Houzz Tour: A New Home Embraces the Lake Lifestyle

A casual lakeside home in Minnesota features warm materials and navy accents that complement water views

Houzz Contributor. Arts journalist specializing in design and architecture. Former editor of Architecture Minnesota, editor of Innovative Design Quarterly, contributor to Midwest Home and HomeDish blog, contributor to Architect's Newspaper and author of the monograph Charles R. Stinson: Compositions in Nature. Have also written for Architect, ICON and Architectural Record. On my bucket list: Modernism Week in Palm Springs; happy to have done Modernism Week in Phoenix in 2017!! More at camillelefevre.org

With their daughters having recently moved away, these empty nesters decided to embrace Minnesota’s lake culture by building a new cottage-style home on Lake Minnetonka. The home’s cottage aesthetic starts with its exterior. The cedar shake roof, hand-milled creamy white siding and white enamel brackets and peaks convey the cottage feel. River rock provides an accent on the columns and porch base.

The front door, painted in Valspar’s Tavern Mahogany, opens to a foyer that’s “large and open, even though we had to stay with 9-foot ceilings because of height restrictions,” interior designer Amy Hendel says. “The spacious room is a wonderful place to gather and welcome guests.” The floors throughout the house are rifted and quartered white oak, with a custom walnut stain.

Furnishings throughout, including the living room, “are classical, comfortable and approachable,” Hendel says, “with pops of color.” White enamel woodwork, built-in cabinetry and a built-in bench “allowed us to transform every nook and cranny into usable space,” she adds. The fireplace surround is covered in limestone.

The living room, dining area and kitchen are part of the open-plan first level, with views of the lake. The plank-style trestle dining table is surrounded by chairs upholstered in blue velvet and chairs of blue-patterned linen. The polished nickel chandelier has black shades that are mirrored inside, “which gives the space a touch of glam,” Hendel says.

The custom-designed kitchen cabinets are maple with White Dove paint from Benjamin Moore. Handmade white subway tiles from Sonoma Tile Makers are used behind the range and as a backsplash with a crackle effect to add subtle interest. “We tucked in as many cabinets as possible, including on the ends of the island,” Hendel says.

The master bedroom upstairs is tucked beneath the roof. “They wanted a master suite where all they see is the lake,” Hendel says. An arch window provides the view, with a built-in bench for gazing out at the water or reading. Electronic shades can be lowered for privacy at night. Again, nautical navy provides the color accent. The wall paint is Rocky Coast from Benjamin Moore.

The upstairs hall has an arched window looking to the lake. “Nearly every room faces the lake, so there is lots of natural light coming into the house,” Hendel says. The wall artwork is actually wallpaper applied to a molded box, flanked by sconces.

The downstairs powder room features a grasscloth wallpaper with hand-painted gold relief against a navy background. The cabinetry is from Restoration Hardware. “The home will never go out of style,” Hendel says. “A new owner could always change out the furnishings, the paint colors and wallcoverings. The house has great bones that you can do anything with.”

This is a beautiful home and I love blue and white! The mill work is gorgeous! But it seems to be more of a suburban home put on a lake rather than a lakehouse. I like the idea of smaller, more cottage-like places on the lake with large decks that give access to the water more easily, because that’s where you are going to spend all your time! That’s just my personal opinion, but obviously this owner wanted the larger more elegant look and it IS beautiful!!!